1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rocket launcher system and a method for controlling a rocket launcher system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern warships have a large number of different weapons systems to be able to perform an operation against different types of targets or protect themselves from various threats. In the last decades, canons have been replaced by guided missiles as the primary weapons system of the ship. Today's ships are constructed with regard to the missile systems and the associated sensors that are to be available on board. Missile systems are in most cases large and usable against a restricted type of targets while at the same time the missiles are extremely expensive themselves. Therefore many ships also have different types of rocket launcher systems to perform the tasks that the missile systems cannot manage, or as a less pensive complement. The most common type of rocket missile is used for anti-submarine warfare, deception or as self-defence against approaching air-to-surface missiles.
Documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,640 A, U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,307 A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,325 A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,412 A disclose different types of rocket launcher systems. A common feature is that they all consist of a launcher standing on deck and a control unit controlled by an operator. The launcher is charged manually by the crew on deck with the type of rocket missiles for which the launcher is configured.
A drawback of the above rocket launcher systems is precisely that they are placed on deck. One of the more important novelties on new ships is their greatly improved capability of avoiding discovery, and an important way of achieving this is to place all weapons system below deck. Placing a rocket launcher system in a closed space below deck causes, however, a large number of new problems. One is that recharging becomes difficult. When a rocket missile is fired, gases dangerous to health form, which have to be ventilated away before the crew can enter and perform a recharge. This results in unacceptably long recharging times. Another problem is restrictions as to space and weight that will be considerably narrower when placing the rocket launcher system below deck.
Yet another problem of prior-art rocket launcher systems is that they are designed for a particular type of rocket missile. More types of rocket missiles require a larger launcher or more launchers. On a ship where space on and below deck is scarce, this means great compromises.